Category: Social Justice

News from the Social Justice Committee or related to social justice and posted by another group

Prepare for Pride

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We’re preparing for pride. The Vancouver parade is Sunday August 5th.

UCV is showing our colours. We’ll hang a rainbow flag outside and paint rocks in rainbow colours.

Perhaps we’ll decide to re-certify as a “Welcoming Congregation” or offer the “Living the Welcoming Congregation” program.

Contact sharingucv@gmail.com if you’d like to join the email list of the ad hoc team working on this.

More about the Welcoming Congregation program here.

Did you know that

  • UCV officially certified as a Welcoming Congregation in 1995
  • there’s a program called “Living the Welcoming Congregation”
  • the Canadian Unitarian Council was an influential and strong voice in the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada
  • there’s a “transgender” flag
  • the communications committee is working with Buildings and Grounds to proudly display a rainbow flag during Pride week
  • 99% of Canadian Unitarian congregations are certified as Welcoming Congregations
  • At the 2006 Annual Meeting, a Gender and Sexual Diversity resolution was passed, updating an earlier resolution on “gay and lesbian rights”. http://cuc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Gender-and-Sexual-Diversity-Resolution-2006.pdf
  • At the Hamilton national Unitarian conference in 2005, five youth from Calgary unfurled a 500’ rainbow banner. A spontaneous offering raised funds to send them to Ottawa to show their colours. Parts of the banner have been left with various individuals, the CUC and the Calgary congregation.
  • Martha Saunders has donated a flag and we’re looking for a great spot for it
  • There’s a growing collection of rainbow-coloured rocks on the inner courtyard? (rocks welcome—we’ll paint them for you!)
  • The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has a list of ten things we can do for Pride https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/witness/pride
  • The UUA recommends renewing the Welcoming Congregation every five years
  • The original “gay flag” design had eight colours including pink and turquoise and blue and indigo were combined to be “royal blue”, so they usually have six rainbow colours not seven.
  • Each colour had a meaning attached to it:
    • life (red)
    • healing (orange)
    • sunlight (yellow)
    • nature (green)
    • harmony/peace (blue, and
    • spirit (purple/violet).
    • The removed colors stood for sexuality (pink) and art/magic (turquoise).[wikipedia link]

 

Unitarians Protest Purchase of Pipeline

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Unitarians, Rev. Debra Thorne and Janet Pivnik of Beacon Unitarian, wearing CUC T-shirts “INTERDEPENDENCE – LOVE – JUSTICE”, making happy protest of Federal Government buying Kinder Morgan at Science World Tuesday, May 29. Many UCV’ers also attended.

Lynn Armstrong “I’m with kindred spirits with Unitarians”

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Lynn has moved around a lot! Her first Unitarian home was with the Comox Valley Unitarian Fellowship 1990-2000 where she had active involvement in various roles (not all at the same time): Newsletter Editor for many years, Chair of Membership Committee, Chair of Denominational Affairs Committee, Canvass Co-chair, Archivist, occasional RE teacher and four years on the Board with two years as President.

Here’s where I live
Equator Nov 2016

When children graduated and flew the nest, Lynn moved to Victoria where she was an active member of the Victoria Church 2000-2002. Then a move to North Vancouver led to joining the North Shore Church 2002-2005 where she was Chair of Denominational Affairs. Lynn was often a delegate to PNWD and CUC meetings and was active in the BC Council serving as first Chair. She was a member of the CUC Nominating Committee 2000 to 2004 including a year as Chair. She was a member of the HUUG Team 2001-2002 (Helping U*U’s Grow) and a Service Consultant with the CUC Regional Network 2003-2005.

After checking with son and daughter who both said “Go for it Mom!,” Lynn moved to Surrey just south of London, England where she lived and worked for eight years. She visited Unitarian congregations in England but never felt “at home” in the way she experienced in Canada. She didn’t find the same sense of kindred spirits.

In 2013 Lynn returned to Calgary where she was actively involved with the local Unitarian church for two years before returning to the Lower Mainland and finally fulfilling her teenage prophecy of joining the Unitarian Church of Vancouver where she is enjoying involvement with committees for Social Justice, Environment, Communications and Canvass and appreciating being with kindred spirits yet again.

Current identity in addition to being a Unitarian: retired Social Worker, very happy grandmother to three grandsons who call her Nan, cross-country skiing enthusiast, social activist and adventurer.

More Highlights from the Educational Event for Wild Salmon

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Enviro Page → Wild Salmon → Educational Event → More Highlights

Contact the Enviro Team | Join Our Email Group

Copper Group: Kwiis and Siiam Hamilton (Musqueam), Cynthia Lam (UCV), Doreen and Greg Fitch, Karissa Glendale (Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw)
Karissa Glendale (kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw) and Julia McIntyre-Smith (Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw)
Front row on right: Hereditary Chief Ernest Alfred from Alert Bay
UCV Earth Banner
Reception at Hewett Hall
Drumming at Hewett Hall: Stó:lō Elder from the Skwah First Nation and president of Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance, Eddie Gardner (middle red shirt), leads drumming

Click on any image to start slide show

Captions

Captions

clockwise from top left

  1. Kwiis and Siiam Hamilton (Musqueam), Cynthia Lam (UCV), Doreen and Greg Fitch, Karissa Glendale (Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw)
  2. Karissa Glendale (kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw) wearing a traditional button blanket and Julia McIntyre-Smith (Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw). Karissa is one of the Indigenous activists who occupied the Swanson Island fish farm. Julia spoke at the educational event
  3. Drumming at Hewett Hall. Stó:lō Elder from the Skwah First Nation and president of Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance, Eddie Gardner (middle, red shirt and black cap), leads drumming
  4. Reception at Hewett Hall
  5. UCV Earth Banner
  6. Hereditary Chief Ernest Alfred from Alert Bay (front row on right)

single quote

If our salmon are not healthy, then our watersheds are not healthy, and if our watersheds our not healthy, then we have truly squandered our heritage and mortgaged our future

— John Kitzhaber

Educational Event Raises $8300 for Wild Salmon

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Enviro Page → Wild Salmon → Educational Event → More Highlights

Contact the Enviro Team | Join Our Email Group

Above: Second from right, guest speaker Ernest Alfred elected band counsellor and a teacher for Indigenous language and culture from Alert Bay, descending from the ‘Namgis, Mamalilikala and Tawit’sis First Nations

February 16, 2018

An educational event on wild salmon was held, February 16, at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver on unceded Musqueam land. More than $8300 was raised to support wild salmon and coastal First Nations calling for the urgent removal of open-net fish farms. Importantly, we also raised awareness, inspiration, hope, knowledge and commitment – to do more.

The evening began with an entrance into the Sanctuary following traditional coastal First Nations protocol. Visitors declare who they are and request permission to land (or enter) the territory of their host. Cecilia Point representing the Musqueam First Nation welcomed the visitors with drumming and song. She then lead the visitors in a grand procession to the front of the chapel.

Speakers for the evening were Cecilia Point, Ernest Alfred, Julia McIntyre-Smith and Dr. David Suzuki. Musical entertainment by Barry Truter, Michael Averill and the Re:Sisters. The entire evening was recorded and well worth watching more than once.

You’ll find event highlights below, with photos and bios of speakers and musicians. Thank you to all !

(more…)

More photos (and details) from the Wild Salmon Event

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Sii-am Hamilton wearing a beautiful Debra Sparrow blanket.
Drumming before entry into Sanctuary. This follows proper protocol of the visiting First Nations  announcing who they are and asking permission to land (or enter). Cecilia Point then drummed and sang to welcome the newcomers to the Musqueam territories and led them inside and up to the front stage in a Grand Procession.
Karissa and Greg holding coppers, the symbol of power, prestige and ownership and essential for important ceremonies. We were honoured to have them brought to the Wild Salmon Event. (Coppers were originally from the Copper river area of Alaska and have been part of Coastal First Nations culture for 2,000 years).
Hereditary Chief Ernest Alfred giving a powerful speech and demanding that the urban supporters raise their game.

Save the Wild Salmon – What Can We Do to Help?

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by Tamiko Suzuki

Above: Spawning wild salmon

The Environment Team is proud to sponsor an evening of education and fundraising  where we will hear from Indigenous leaders working to remove open-net fish farms from their waters. Julia McIntyre-Smith and Chiefs Ernest Alfred and Willie Moon will speak of the relationship between the wild salmon, the environment and their Indigenous communities. Dr. David Suzuki will talk of the science linking fish farms to the decrease in wild stocks.

This will be a powerful, moving evening and you will come away with new appreciation for the imperiled wild salmon and the Peoples whose cultures they are so entwined with.

The talk will be held in the Sanctuary, followed by refreshments and a silent auction in Hewett Hall.

There you will also find tables set aside to brain storm ways to further help the wild salmon defenders.

We will post here decisions made to carry on this initiative.

Julia McIntyre-Smith’s Youtube Channel

Entry by donation (suggested $20)

Doors open to the Sanctuary at 6:30pm. Feb. 16, 2018

Drumming with Aline LaFlamme — More, Please!

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Drumming with Aline LaFlamme

  • by Mary Bennett

As part of our annual Women’s Gathering, Aline LaFlamme led a drumming workshop.

We learned three songs: Four Directions; Strong Woman and Gratitude songs. I, for one, hope to get a chance to sing and drum to these songs again. Like several other women in the workshop, I’d brought a drum I’d bought some years ago and very rarely used. Now it’s out, it wants to come out and play more often. We were told that all three songs are public songs and we are invited to sing and drum them any time.

The workshop was from 1 to 4 pm and Aline came back to join in the potluck dinner and also lead an opening round dance when we started the circle dance part of the evening.

7 Natural Ways of Healing

Aline tells us there are seven natural ways of healing that we can all use any time to help ourselves: talking, crying, screaming, singing, laughing, shaking and.. dancing!  Let it be a dance!

Aline and her group Daughters of the Drum led the recent March On – Vancouver march on January 20. She welcomed all to join her and the group at the start of the march.

Margo Elfert and Tamiko Suzuki of UCV are members of Aline’s group and would enjoy having other Unitarians join the march with them. The group includes both aboriginal and settler members.

Margo is exploring with Aline the idea of a monthly drum circle at UCV. Contact Margo if you’d be interested in joining in.

Here are youtube links for two of the songs we learned.

Strong Woman Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHVAzmfZAy4&index=4&list=RDar46tLpZKXg

The Strong Woman Song is performed by Raven Hart-Bellecourt and Lisa Muswagon.

Lakota 4 directions Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qeb4KhIMQ8&list=RD-qeb4KhIMQ8

I couldn’t find a link for the Gratitude Song.

You can see Tamiko and Margo here at the recent March On – Vancouver event with the Daughters of the Drum.

Woven Together – Registration Form

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Signup for Woven Together here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5Pkib_7eZl7Pf7VmPcfA3eeVXAkieRfeQW46s4G_ghbT2fA/viewform

Woven Together Registration
The children’s Religious Exploration Team at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver is preparing to lead “Woven Together”, the Canadian Unitarian Council’s Upper Elementary 8 Session Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Reflection Guide. This guide is designed to be used for children in Grades 4-6/ages 9-12 and uses resources that provide age-appropriate Indigenous ways of knowing.
The dates of the Truth and Healing series are:
October 1, 15, and 22
November 5, 19, and 26
December 3 (at 9:30 am), and 10.
Because of the complexity of this work it is important that all participants make a commitment to attending the series as each session builds upon the previous ones. Unforeseen events arise, but we should begin together with the goal to see it all the way through. The series will be held by trained facilitators during our regular 11 am Sunday services and RE class time at the church: 949 West 49th Ave, Vancouver, BC

Woven Together – Register Now

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Woven Together Register Now

The children’s Religious Exploration Team at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver is preparing to lead “Woven Together”, the Canadian Unitarian Council’s Upper Elementary 8 Session Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Reflection Guide. This guide is designed to be used for children in Grades 4-6/ages 9-12 and uses resources that provide age-appropriate Indigenous ways of knowing.
The dates of the Truth and Healing series are:
  • October 1, 15, and 22, November 5, 19, and 26 and December 3 (at 9:30 am), and 10.
Because of the complexity of this work it is important that all participants make a commitment to attending the series as each session builds upon the previous ones. Unforeseen events arise, but we should begin together with the goal to see it all the way through. The series will be held by trained facilitators during our regular 11 am Sunday services and RE class time at the church: 949 West 49th Ave, Vancouver, BC